Thalassophobia memes tap into the primal human fear of deep, dark, and vast bodies of water. These memes typically utilize scale to contrast a small human or boat against a massive, often hidden, underwater entity like a megalodon, kraken, or simply the infinite abyss. While the fear itself is a recognized psychological condition, the Thalassophobia meme subculture exploded on platforms like Reddit and TikTok, where users share triggering images to evoke a sense of dread and awe. They are used both to genuinely share the fear and to jokingly represent overwhelming, looming problems that we try to ignore until they are right beneath us.